Top Brands are Using Cinemagraphs in Social Media

Within the last few months, we’ve seen several big brands use cinemagraphs to market their business on social media. Everyday at least one new cinemagraph is shared and promoted by companies like Doritos, Tim Hortons, Heineken on the major social channels. This helps to really bring awareness to cinemagraphs, and also legitimize the medium. No, cinemagraphs are not a gimmick; and yes, they are here to stay. All of the forces are starting to align, and we’re pretty damn excited about it.

Wal-Mart

3 main things that are necessary for the success of cinemagraphs:

1. Getting validation from big brands that this is indeed, a legitimate medium. (check)

Take a look at your Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds. In the upcoming months, you’ll start to see more and more cinemagraphs being posted by the brands you follow on social media. If you’re lucky, you’ve already started to spot them. Take a look at some of the big brands using cinemagraphs, below. They’re mesmerizing. And while you’re at it, check out our blog, Cinemagraphs: The Hot New Advertising Medium on Instagram.

For a while, it was quite tedious and cumbersome to share cinemagraphs on social media. Having to click that play button, or view cinemagraphs in only 256 colours (GIF), degrades the medium. The beauty of cinemagraphs is having them auto-play with the clarity of a photo and the fluidity of a video. Now, sharing HD videos that auto-play (and often auto-loop) has allowed cinemagraphs to find their place beside photos and videos on our favourite social networks.

Facebook, Vine, Tumblr and Instagram both auto-loop AND auto-play native video; video auto-plays on Twitter. This has all occurred within the last 6-8 months. For more on the rise of micro-video marketing, read the Social Media Video Revolution.

Thanks to our trusty developers at Flixel, we have been able to create and continue to enhance our software, Cinemagraph Pro. Available for both Mac and iOS, Cinemagraph Pro allows photographers, videographers and marketers like yourself create cinemagraphs in a matter of minutes.

Time is money, and not all of us have the time and energy to spend hours or days in Photoshop to create just one living photo. Our goal is to help creatives create by making it easy and fun to edit cinemagraphs, and that’s exactly what we’ve done and will continue to do at Flixel. With the feedback and encouragement from our talented community, we are inspired to keep innovating and providing tools for magical storytelling.

The wind isn’t only in our sails; it’s in yours too! If you don’t want to listen to us, it’s okay, just take a look at the million (or billion) dollar companies using cinemagraphs in their digital marketing strategies. With all of the momentum building up, it’s about time you started using cinemagraphs to market your business.

When Cassandra was six, she was asked to share a story with her class…and hasn’t stopped telling them since. Now she does so through photography, video and writing, but with the same sense of wonder - and love for glitter - as her inner kid.